The present invention relates to extraction of tobacco components, and in particular to processes for providing tobacco-derived components of that tobacco extract.
Popular smoking articles, such as cigarettes, have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of smokable material, such as shreds or strands of tobacco material (i.e., in cut filler form), surrounded by a paper wrapper, thereby forming a tobacco rod. It has become desireable to manufacture a cigarette having a cylindrical filter element aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, a filter element includes cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by plug wrap, and is attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. Many cigarettes include processed tobacco materials and/or tobacco extracts in order to provide certain flavorful characteristics to those cigarettes.
Many types of smoking products and improved smoking articles have been proposed through the years as improvements upon, or as alternatives to, the popular smoking articles. Recently, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,708,151 to Shelar; 4,714,082 to Banerjee et al.; 4,756,318 to Clearman et al.; and 4,793,365 to Sensabaugh, Jr. et al.; and European Patent Publication Nos. 212,234 and 277,519 propose cigarettes and pipes which comprise a fuel element, an aerosol generating means physically separate from the fuel element, and a separate mouth-end piece. Such types of smoking articles provide natural tobacco flavors to the smoker thereof by heating, rather than burning, tobacco in various forms.
Natural tobacco flavors are important components of smoking articles and provide adequate tobacco taste and aroma to the smoking article. Thus improved processes for providing natural tobacco flavor and aromatic substances and flavorable and aromatic forms of tobacco are desirable. As a result, there has been interest in extracting particular components from tobacco. For example, various processes for producing and using tobacco extracts, aroma oils and concentrates are proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,136,321 to Davis; 3,316,919 to Green; 3,424,171 to Rooker; 4,421,126 to Gellatly and 4,506,682 to Mueller and European Patent No. 338,831 to Clapp et. al. There has also been interest in fermenting tobacco. For example, various processes utilizing fermentation techniques have been suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,895,175 to Baskevitch et al; 4,622,982 to Gaisch et al; 4,476,881 to Gravely et al; and 4,308,877 to Mattina.
It would be highly desirable to provide tobacco-derived components (e.g., the flavor and aromatic components) of a tobacco extract, and particularly to provide those tobacco-derived components having an alcohol content greater than about 15 percent by weight and preferably greater than about 50 percent by weight.